INTRODUCTION

SUPPORTING THE GLOBALVOLUNTEER MINISTER PROGRAM

The Volunteer Minister program was created in the mid 1970s by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, who described the Volunteer Minister as “a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.”

THE CHURCH of SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS bring EFFECTIVE HELP WHENEVER and WHEREVER needed.

The Volunteer Minister program is a broad initiative bringing effective physical and spiritual assistance to anyone, anywhere. Since its inception, hundreds of thousands have been trained in a wide range of skills that use Scientology fundamentals to alleviate physical, mental or spiritual suffering and improve any aspect of life—from communication and study to marriage and raising children.

The training is open to anyone who desires to help others and empower them to overcome difficulties and change conditions for the better.

In addition to serving their own communities worldwide, Volunteer Ministers extend their help to remote cities, towns and villages.

The Church further established within its global network of volunteers a permanent Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Team, ready to mobilize in times of natural or man-made disasters. Members of the team work with community leaders, government officials, relief organizations and other volunteer groups to provide physical support and meaningful spiritual aid through their organization, skill and experience.

Spanning every continent, Volunteer Ministers comprise one of the largest independent relief forces in the world, bringing effective help whenever and wherever needed.

The United Nations reported that in one recent year natural and man-made disasters affected the lives of some 208 million people. The world’s largest network of disaster relief organizations was only able to reach 15 percent of them at that time. What about the rest?

The international Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Team works dedicatedly to help fill the gap.

In December 2004, when tsunamis devastated the coasts of Southeast Asia and India, the damage was cataclysmic.

Whole towns were destroyed and islands disappeared. Immediately, 600 Volunteer Ministers from 28 nations responded from as near as Australia and as far as the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, the United States and Latin America, bringing physical and spiritual aid to tsunami victims and rescue workers.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti just before 5 p.m. on January 12, 2010, destroyed half the buildings in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, leaving 300,000 dead and 3 million injured or homeless.

The quake evoked an unprecedented outpouring of aid from around the world.

The textbook for the training of Volunteer Ministers is The Scientology Handbook, compiled from the works of L. Ron Hubbard.

In a world where the individual is increasingly beset by economic, political and social forces that can seem overwhelming, Mr. Hubbard directed the publication of the book to make Scientology technology readily available to anyone to help themselves and others.

In 2010, the Church of Scientology International opened its 185,000-square-foot International Dissemination and Distribution Center in Los Angeles, California. The massive printing and production facility produces all educational materials for Church-supported humanitarian programs, including Volunteer Ministers.

For more than three decades, Churches of Scientology and Scientology Volunteer Ministers have answered the call to serve others on a broad scale, providing physical and spiritual aid in every corner of the globe.

Through partnerships with like-minded groups—ranging from the International Red Cross to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), from police and fire departments...